by PopMatters Staff

With Azure Blue, former Irene and Laurel Music songwriter Tobias Isaksson creates a melange of '80s synthpop textures and '90s shoegaze vocals mixed with that wall of sound, perfected by pop music back in the '60s.

Yet, this music sounds utterly contemporary. Azure Blue’s debut album, Rule of Thirds, received many critical accolades back in 2011 with the culmination being a win for best pop album in the Swedish version of the Grammys last year. Now Isaksson returns with his sophomore album under the Azure moniker, the philosophically titled Beyond the Dreams There’s Infinite Doubt. Matinee Records will release the album next week in the US, but it has released today in Sweden, so here’s your official preview of the new music… that is, unless you live in Sweden.